


Time Changes Everything

by gmariam19 (gmariam)



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Complicated - Freeform, Eventual Poe Dameron/Finn, First Kiss, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Hurt Finn (Star Wars), Jedi Finn (Star Wars), M/M, Married Poe Dameron/Finn, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Finn (Star Wars), POV Poe Dameron, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Surprise Ending, Time Loop, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24482671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gmariam/pseuds/gmariam19
Summary: When Finn is mortally injured in an attack, a mysterious stranger arrives to save him. But is this man in silver armor really a stranger?When Poe returns to Yavin IV years later, he is shocked by a visitor he thought he'd lost years ago. But did he really lose Finn?The Force works in mysterious ways, and time changes everything.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 103
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

I. _Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now. ~Mattie Stepanek_

Finn struggles to stand, to move, to even breathe. He feels nothing but pain—sharp, stabbing, throbbing, burning—from wounds he knows will be fatal if he doesn't get help soon. And yet it seems almost hopeless: he is alone on a sparsely populated moon in the middle of nowhere, with no way to call for help. He needs to get to the nearest settlement, where he can be treated for his injuries and send a message to Ajan Kloss.

Stumbling with fatigue, he falls to his knees with a groan, clutching at his ribs. He suspects they are bruised, maybe broken, and given how hard it is to concentrate at times, he may have a concussion. And that's on top of a sprained ankle, broken wrist, and the deep gash on his thigh that's soaked through his makeshift bandage. He feels dizzy with blood loss and dehydration, and crashes to the ground, the pain blinding as he lands on his bad arm.

He must pass out, because when he comes to, the sun is beginning to set, and he is cold and shivering. The part of his brain that can still think straight tells him that shock is setting in, that he needs to keep moving and find some sort of shelter before he dies of exposure and treat his wounds. With what, he doesn't know. He literally has nothing. He'd lost consciousness in the ship when it crashed at the foot of the mountains; he woke up as a prisoner in a dark cave. It's a miracle he's even alive, though he isn't sure which injuries are from the crash and which are from his captor.

The trip toMantero was supposed to be a straightforward mission. Jannah had been hoping to contact a small group of First Order defectors rumored to be living on the coast, only they had been shot out of the sky first. Finn had managed to return fire, but both ships had crashed. He had lost consciousness, and the bounty hunter who had attacked them had taken Finn captive. And not just any bounty hunter, but a former First Order TIE pilot with a grudge against the traitor who'd defected to the New Republic. Who'd decided to have some fun with his mark before turning Finn over to the client.

He doesn't know what happened to Jannah and Forten; he desperately hopes they survived the crash, and that the hunter left them alone. At least the bastard can't hurt them now. But Finn has no way to find them aside from wandering the mountains, and no way to contact them.

He forces himself to stand, trips over to a branch nearby, and decides it will work as a much-needed crutch. He's made it across the rocky downslope of the mountains and almost to the edge of a forest. If he remembers the map he'd seen on their way to Mantero, the settlement they'd been trying to reach was somewhere along the coast on the other side of the woods. Finn has no idea how big the forest is and how long it will take him to get there, but he has to try; he doesn't know where his ship is, or where his companions might be. At least he has a big stick now.

He really needs some way to make contact—with the settlement, with Poe, with anyone. He also needs medical attention. With his injuries, he is an easy target, especially for wild predators, and if one bounty hunter had managed to find him, there could be more. That he'd managed to get the drop on his captor was only down to dumb luck and the fact that he was a former First Order stormtrooper going against a former First Order pilot. He knows every offensive and defensive technique the First Order taught them, and even injured, Finn had managed the element of surprise (coupled with desperation against an injured opponent) to take out the bounty hunter.

Unfortunately, the hunter's comms had been completely destroyed during the fight, and that's when Finn had been stabbed in the leg. There had been little else in the cave aside from the man's weapons—no survival pack, nothing. Finn had assumed it was still with the man's ship, but he didn't know where that was, and he'd stumbled out into the light, disoriented and confused, his only clear thought to get away, to get to the settlement and find help.

The woods are getting closer, and it gives Finn hope, that he won't be as exposed as he is in the open. He can find shelter, rest, and defend himself. Then he can make it to the other side; maybe Jannah and Forten already have. It is the thought of finding them safe, and of seeing Rey and Poe again that keeps him going. He does not want to die out here alone; he wants to see them, more than anything. He tries not to think of all the things he hasn't said, hasn't done, but there is so much, that soon he starts listing them all as motivation. Poe is first on his list.

Once he enters the forest, Finn stops several times to rest, including at a small stream where he drinks his fill before soaking his injured ankle. He cleans his wounds as best as he can, but finds the rush of adrenaline that propelled him forward for so long has left him, and he is more exhausted than ever. His head starts pounding, until he is forced to lay down before he's sick. But laying down makes him even more tired, and he closes his eyes, and though he tells himself—out loud—not to fall asleep, he does anyway.

When he wakes up, he is stiff and sore and his chest is on fire. He rolls over only to vomit into a nearby bush. Glancing around, he tries to find a better place for shelter, sticks for a fire, anything that will help him survive. He stands and stumbles forward, away from the more exposed stream, but quickly collapses after only a few steps.

Finn continues on his hands and knees, tears falling from his eyes. He is not going to die, not here, not now. He needs to find Jannah and Forten, to see Rey again and learn about the Force. And more than anything, he needs to see Poe. There are so many things he wants to say, things that he's been afraid to admit for so long. And now he won't ever get to see Poe again, let alone tell him.

Life was supposed to be different after they won, and it is, except for the one thing he wants more than anything. He and Poe are closer than ever, and everyone loves giving them a hard time about being Co-Generals, but Finn wants more. He thinks he's ready, and he thinks Poe might even feel the same way, but something keeps holding them back. For Finn, it is the thought of losing what he already has, if he took the risk and asked for more.

And yet, it could be amazing. He wants a life that's more than fighting and rebuilding and always looking to the future. He wants to live in the present, and he wants to share it with someone. With Poe. The thought makes him sob with frustration, that he's lost his chance, which in turn makes him cough. The effort exhausts him completely, and Finn collapses for the last time not far from the stream, near a tree he thinks might otherwise be a nice place to die, if he wasn't alone. If he could see Poe one last time. Gazing up at the dark sky, Finn closes his eyes and lets the darkness claim him. He vaguely hears crashing nearby, a voice calling his name, someone kneeling beside him.

It's too late, he thinks. The being beside him must be able to read his thoughts, or maybe Finn spoke out loud. As he loses consciousness, Finn hears a man's muffled voice telling him to hold on, that it's never too late. He thinks he recognizes the voice, but there's no way Poe could have found him.

There is a strange tremor in the Force that surrounds him as he slips into darkness, and he wonders if this is what it feels like to die.

* * *

Finn did not expect to wake up, but he does. He can feel the rustle of leaves beneath him, the warmth of a blanket covering him. He can hear the sound of a forest around him, which is when it all starts to come back: the crash, the capture, the escape. The long trek through the woods that ended in defeat. He also remembers a voice.

His eyes flash open, and Finn glances wildly around, trying to find his rescuer. "Poe?" he calls into the dark, hope flaring wildly, that somehow Poe managed to find him in the middle of nowhere. Then the opposite thought takes hold, that maybe he hadn't been rescued; maybe he's been captured again. He struggles to sit, fear taking over, and then pain, until a gentle hand guides him back down.

"Lay down," says the voice he remembers—so familiar, and yet also different. "You'll be all right now, but you need to sleep, let your body rest and heal."

"Who are you?" Finn asks. There is a pause, and then the click of a fusion lamp. Finn squints into the light to see someone sitting next to him, wearing silver armor accented in black. They are wearing a helmet similar to a Mandalorian visor, but more slim and angular, with a large eye slit that remains closed.

"I'm here to help," says the voice, and it sounds so much like Poe that Finn wants to sob with relief. He senses the voice belongs to a man, that much is certain. It is a weary voice, laced with experience and loss. That same tremor in the Force he thinks he felt earlier returns, like a soft humming against his skin.

"Who are you?" Finn insists. "Because the last guy I ran into dressed in armor wasn't here to help."

Even in the thick armor, Finn can see the man tense. "I know," he says, his head dropping the slightest. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. But I'm going to get you back to your friends, I promise."

"My friends don't know what happened," Finn says. "I was trying to get to…to…" He can't think of the name of the settlement on the coast, the one he and the others had been flying to when they'd been attacked.

"Dartoun," says the other man. "And it's pretty far, you know."

"Yeah, well my ship crashed, and I ended up in a cave with the bounty hunter who shot us down, so I have no idea where it is or if…if…shit." _If they're even alive._ He closes his eyes.

A gentle hand is on his arm. "They're okay."

"Know that for sure?" Finn asks, then opens his eyes again. "And how do you know what I was thinking, or who I was thinking about?"

"I do know for sure," the man says. Finn imagines a crooked smile behind the visor. He hates masks and wishes his rescuer would take it off so he can see his face.

"Who are you?" Finn asks for the third time. "Are you with that other guy? The one who shot us down?"

Finn can almost imagine the other man frowning. "Of course not. The last thing I would ever do is hurt you," the man replies. "I'm here to save you."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because you would have died from exposure, or from that wound on your thigh, or your broken ribs." The impatience feels so familiar.

"Know that for sure, too?" Finn asks, even more bitter than before.

The man bristles and stands up. "Actually, I do." He turns and walks away.

Finn struggles to sit, to understand what the hell is happening. He can feel pain and anger and an overwhelming sense of loss radiating from the man before him. He is also clearly keeping a secret, and while Finn wants to trust him, there's something about the situation that stops him. He can feel the Force trying to tell him something, but it's too fuzzy, unclear.

"Look, I appreciate the help, but I need to know what's going on if I'm supposed to trust you. Are you really here to help, or are you going to turn me over now that you've kept me alive? Because if that's your plan, I'm going to start working on a plan of my own."

The man throws his gloved hands up in the air with a huff loud enough to hear through his helmet. "Kriff, Finn, I almost forgot how stubborn you were," he says.

"See, that's what I'm talking about," Finn exclaims. "How do you know my name? How did you know where to find me? Why are you here?"

"Everyone knows the former Stormtrooper who brought down the First Order," the man replies. "General Finn, hero of the Resistance."

"Not everyone knows I'm stubborn."

"I inferred it," the man replies with a shrug. The body language, the tone—it's so much like Poe, yet it doesn't make sense. Why would he be hiding himself behind armor?

"Show me your eyes," Finn demands. "So I know if I can trust you."

"You can trust me," the man says, his voice so quiet Finn can barely hear him. "You always have."

"I can't trust you if I don't know who you are, how you know me." The man is silent. "Fine. Thanks for your help then. If you're not planning on turning me in for the bounty, I think I got it from here." He takes a deep breath and starts to stand.

The man strides back over and kneels next to Finn, pushing him down before Finn can stand up straight. "You're not going anywhere. I've got bacta slapped on the worst of your injuries, but it needs some time to work. I also pumped you full of all the fluids, antibiotics, and painkillers I could find, but you won't get far, especially at night. Just rest, General. The real rescue will be here in the morning." He glances at a chrono on his wrist and nods, as if to himself.

Finn sighs and lays back down. The man is right; even the effort of trying to stand sent ripples of pain through his leg, and bacta won't set his broken wrist or ribs. "I hate this," he murmurs.

"I know you do. Get some sleep," the man tells him, sounding weary once more. "I've got you, Finn."

Finn can't help but smile through the darkness washing over him once more. Poe had said the same thing at the Battle of Exegol. Maybe Finn will be all right after all.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm excited to share this and I hope you are intrigued enough to keep going. This story is finished and I will try to update every few days as I edit it into submission.


	2. Chapter 2

_II. Hide nothing, for time, which sees all and hears all, exposes all. ~Sophocles_

When Finn wakes again, the sun is beginning to rise. He feels somewhat better: still sore and tired, but his head is clearer, and the bacta patches have helped his thigh. His wrist is set, though it starts to throb almost in time with his ribs as soon as he moves to sit up. He's also thirsty, and glances around the area to see if there is anything to drink.

He'd collapsed not far from the stream, and his mysterious rescuer is there now, washing his hands and face. Finn catches a glance of curly brown hair, streaked with grey, and the profile of a full beard. Something still feels familiar, and there's that damn buzzing in the Force again, but before Finn can think more about it, the man puts his helmet back on and walks over to where Finn is trying not to stare.

"Good morning," says the other man. He holds out a canteen with water. "You look better. How are you feeling?"

"I feel much better," says Finn, drinking half the canteen. "Thank you."

"Think you could eat something?"

"Depends on what it was," Finn tells him. "I'd love some protein biscuits, but I'd be happy with a ration bar."

"How about something better?" Finn can almost hear the smile in the man's voice as he reaches into a nearby sack and takes out a container. And inside he finds koyo fruit, sweet-sand cookies, and choya bread with tang-root and hard cheese. Not only his favorite fruit, but his favorite bread, and the cookies he once found Poe making after being grounded.

Finn would laugh if he wasn't so confused. This man knows him. And he thinks he knows this man. Yet his rescuer is still hiding, not eating, simply watching. Which is a little creepy, so Finn decides to throw it back at him.

"Why won't you take your helmet off?" Finn asks. "You're not a Mandalorian, even if you look like you're trying."

The man tilts his head to the sound. "Always a critic," he murmurs, but Finn can hear the smile in the man's voice.

"Seriously, have something to eat, you must be starving. I know who you are now."

"You do?" asks the man, still sounding amused.

"I do," Finn replies. "What I don't understand is why you're hiding."

"Which means you don't really know who I am," the man points out. "Or you'd know exactly why I'm hiding."

Finn sets down his food and takes a deep breath. "Poe, I know it's you. The cookies give it all away. So why don't you tell me what's really going on here?"

Finn can feel the other man's shock and dismay vibrating in the air around them as the man shakes his head, though he does not speak.

"Tell me I'm wrong, then," Finn says. " _Show_ me I'm wrong."

There is a long moment of silence, until the man opens his visor to reveal his eyes. And they are eyes Finn would know anywhere, deep and brown and warm. They are the eyes of Poe Dameron.

And yet, they are not the same as Finn remembers. There are more lines radiating from the corners, deeper shadows beneath, and these eyes hold so much more pain and heartbreak. The Force is singing around him, but Finn is even more confused.

"Poe?" he whispers.

The other man takes a deep breath. "Yes. And no." He takes off his helmet, revealing that same head of curly brown hair Finn knows, only it is slightly longer and shot through with grey. He has a full beard as well, also gone grey, and Finn is struck by the impression of wisdom and sadness. This man carries himself with a strength and determination born of hard experience, and something almost akin to nobility. It reminds Finn so much of Leia, that it is both terrifying and amazing, and more than anything, heartrending.

"I don't understand," Finn says quietly.

"Yeah, I don't either, buddy." Poe laughs quietly. His laugh sounds deeper, less open and joyful than the Poe Dameron that Finn knows. It suddenly hits him.

"You're older," he says. "You're at least ten years older, aren't you?"

Poe nods. "Fifteen, actually. Gonna be hitting fifty soon."

Finn stares at him before finding his voice. "Well, you look amazing, but I still don't understand. How are you older? What happened? I couldn't have been out of it for that long." He shakes his head. "Of course I wasn't, I'd be older, too. What's going on?"

"I already told you," Poe replies with a shrug. "I'm here to help. That's really all there is to it."

"You're here to help?" Finn repeats. "To help me?"

"And you thought I was a bounty hunter," Poe replies dryly. "Thanks for that."

"It's the armor," Finn tells him. "And the fact that I got shot out of the sky and taken prisoner by bounty hunter wearing armor. So yes, I'm going to assume there are more."

Poe is silent and avoids looking at Finn, as if he doesn't know what to say when normally he would have a clever comeback.

"Why are you really here?" Finn asks quietly, remembering something Poe had said during the night about saving him. "I need to know."

"Actually," says Poe, in that way that is so familiar to Finn from all the times he's heard it on a mission, when Poe points out something that is, in fact, possible when everyone else thought it was impossible. Like lightspeed skipping. Finn wonders if this is going to be something similar. "You don't need to know. It doesn't matter anymore. I did what I came here to do."

"To save me," says Finn, feeling the answer through the Force. When Poe doesn't answer, Finn knows he's hit on the awful truth. "Because if you didn't…" He trails off, but Poe remains silent.

"You said you knew," Finn murmurs. "You knew for sure. That I was going to die here, is that it?"

"Finn, I shouldn't say anything—hell, I shouldn't even be here!" Poe exclaims. "And you really don't need to know. You're alive, and in a few hours your Poe Dameron will be here to—"

"Wait, what do you mean, _my_ Poe Dameron? Aren't you Poe Dameron?" Finn hears the panic in his voice, and can see that it upsets the other man.

"Yes, but no! Finn, don't you get it? I'm not the same man you left back on Ajan Kloss when you set out on this mission. I'm fifteen years older."

"You're from the future." Finn's voice is flat with disbelief, even though deep down he knows the truth, can feel it. This man has traveled back in time. That's the strange sensation that keeps tickling his skin through the Force.

"I'm from the future. Which is why I can't say anything—change the past, change the future and all that. Basic temporal physics." He offers a weak smile, but Finn frowns in return.

"You're here," he points out. "I probably would have died last night, but you changed that. You saved me." Suddenly Finn is dizzy with the knowledge that Poe would do something so incredible, so dangerous, so _stupid_ for him.

"You idiot!" he shouts. "How many times have you lectured me about accepting our losses? And you say you can't tell me anything or you'll change the past, but you're here—to what? To stop me from dying? That's not accepting your losses, that's changing the past! What the hell, Poe? How could you do that? Why would you—" He stops, out of breath from anger and shock, and starts coughing. The spell quickly passes, leaving him more tired and draining some of his anger.

Poe looks stricken, like Finn has slapped him across the face. And Finn feels bad about that, he does, but he's also mad as hell, that Poe would do something so monumentally irresponsible as to travel back in time to save one man. To save him.

And like a sudden jolt of light out of the blue, Finn feels the answer radiating from the man before him, and he understands.

_Oh._

"Oh my gods," says Finn, and he moves backward, away from the sheer impossibility of it "Poe, tell me you…please tell me you don't blame yourself? That you moved on? It's been fifteen years…"

"Fifteen years," Poe murmurs. He takes in a shaky breath, but his voice is steady when he speaks. "I should have known I couldn't pull this off. You could always see right through me."

"What have you been doing for fifteen years?" Finn demands. "You haven't been mourning me, have you?"

"In some ways, yes," Poe easily admits. "Just like I never stopped mourning my mom, or Leia… Muran and L'ulo and Snap…Chewie…my dad…" He stops when his voice cracks. "So yes, I still mourn for you, even after so long. But I did move on. I've had a good life, but I _never_ forget the ones I've lost."

"Poe," Finn starts, but the other man keeps going, like a dam has been unblocked.

"And of course I blamed myself. I'm the one who doesn't get to you in time, Finn. I flew like hell to get here, and right now I'm out there, looking everywhere for you. But when I found you, it was too late." His face is sorrow etched in stone, like nothing Finn has ever seen on Poe's face before, even when Leia and Snap died. And apparently, he's lost others since then.

"What happened?" Finn asks quietly, dreading the answer.

"I found your ship, followed your trail, found you not far from the stream." Poe looks up with tears in his eyes. "And you died in my arms."

"No," Finn breathes.

"It was like you were waiting for me, to say goodbye," Poe whispers. He scrubs at his face with his gloved hands, and when he pulls them away, his eyes are bright with anger. "It was the worst day of my life, and I've never forgotten it—or forgiven myself."

Finn is stunned silent, until he finally finds the energy to move forward, closer to Poe. He touches his arm, takes his hand, and squeezes tight. "I'm here now. You saved me."

"But I didn't, not fifteen years ago!"

"It wasn't your fault," Finn says. "You can't keep blaming yourself."

"Yes, it was my fault. I didn't get here fast enough. I didn't find you in time." There are tears in Poe's eyes again. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I don't know what you're apologizing for!" Finn exclaims. "I'm all right now, thanks to you."

Poe smiles and rubs at his eyes. "Took me two tries, but I guess I finally did it." He laughs, only it comes out as more of a hiccup. "I honestly didn't think it would work—that I could change something that had already happened. I thought the universe would stop me."

"How did you do it?" asks Finn. "How did you know what to do, to come back? Until a few minutes ago, I would have said time travel was for holo-dramas, not real life."

"Sometimes life _is_ a never-ending holo-drama," Poe murmurs, but he is smiling. "I thought the same thing, to be honest. I've spent the last fifteen years blaming myself, but I never thought, not once, that it was something I could go back and change. I've missed you every day, but for the most part, I made peace with it. It's just been harder since my dad died." He trails off with a sigh.

"I'm sorry about your dad," Finn tells him quietly.

"Thanks," Poe tells him. "I went back to Yavin IV, been taking care of the ranch. And missing you even more."

"But how did you know?" Finn asks again, trying not to think about why Poe is still missing him after fifteen years, even though the thought of it is making his heart ache. When Poe hesitates, he squeezes the other man's hand. "You've already changed the future by saving me. What's telling me the rest of the story going to do?"

"Cause the universe to implode?"

"Seriously?"

Poe shrugs in that way he has, and Finn smiles at the familiarity, finding a strange reassurance in the knowledge that even after fifteen years, some things about Poe never change. "I don't know, maybe? Although I'd like to think it wouldn't, because my source was from the future, too, and he told me how it all turns out. Which means…" His eyes go wide for a moment, as if he's realized something important. "Oh," he says. "Oh, wow."

"Wait, you mean…someone from the future told you to travel to the past?"

"And it gets even better," Poe says. The expression on his face is one of both awe and disbelief as he looks at Finn in a way that makes his heart jump in his chest.

"Who was it?"

For the first time since he took off his helmet, Poe smiles like he really means it. His entire body relaxes, and Finn can literally feel the wonder in the air. The Force vibrates between them.

"It was you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing time travel stories, but I don't have advanced degrees in astrophysics, temporal physics, or quantum physics, so please excuse any mistakes in the space-time continuum I may inadvertently create. I have tried my best to think it through. Many thanks to mssrj_335 for letting me think out loud at them! More will come out as the story continues. I'm so excited— let a girl know what you think? Comments keep us going, especially through endless editing. Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

_III. Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change. ~Thomas Hardy_

Poe Dameron is tired.

He's tired physically, mentally, emotionally. Sometimes he's literally _exhausted_ , which is ridiculous because he's only one month into his leave of absence. He should be happy and healthy now, ready to tackle all the projects he's been dreaming about for the last few years. And he has—maybe that's the problem. Maybe he's done too much in his first month back on Yavin IV. Maybe he needs a break from what was supposed to be a break.

Or maybe he needs people, and places, and more than the sounds of the jungle at night.

He needs to _fly._

So he starts taking his X-wing out every day. He flies over the local settlement, doing tricks for practice, for fun, and even for show. He starts to go up at the same time, because he knows people are watching. BB-8 seems to enjoy it as much as he does, and they go into town more often, becoming part of the local scene. He plays sabaac with some other veterans, drinks with some of the younger pilots stopping by to visit, while BB-8 does whatever he does with a few friendly droids. It's better, and Poe finally starts on his big project, an old Z-95 Headhunter his dad had held onto for him all these years. He fixes up the ranch, takes care of the grounds and tends the tree his mother planted from Luke Skywalker, and it's all good.

That's what he tells himself at night, when he's lying alone in his bunk, listening to the runyips cry outside in the dark. And maybe that's the problem—being alone. He has BB-8 and they can certainly keep busy, but it's not the same as living on an old Resistance base, surrounded by people, constantly ready to fight. It's not the same as living in an apartment on Naboo, or Chandrila, or Corellia, working with the New Republic, and later the Senate, still surrounded by people. He thought he'd need time to be alone after losing so much, so fast—first his dad, then Chewbacca, and then Rey, missing for over six months now.

It turns out being alone is not what he thought it would be. He doesn't need to wallow in his grief, or sort out his feelings. He knows how he feels, he has never denied himself the anger or the heartache. Poe needs people, he needs companionship, he needs his friends. He misses them, and more than anything, being alone on Yavin IV makes him miss Finn more than ever.

It's been fifteen years, but not a day goes by where Poe doesn't think about the man he lost. About how he missed his chance at having a life with Finn, because he never said anything. He's had partners since then, but it's Finn who has stayed in his heart. Poe had always thought he'd come back to Yavin IV with Finn, when he'd allowed himself to daydream, after they'd won the war. Yet he'd never said anything, and then Finn was gone.

It is hard to get over someone you love dying in your arms. Even fifteen years later, it is still hard to set aside the lingering guilt, that he hadn't got there fast enough, hadn't found Finn before it had been too late to save him. He'd carried that guilt like a chain around his neck for years. After continuing his work with the Resistance, he'd eventually moved on with his life, rejoining the New Republic Navy as general of a specialized defensive division, becoming the Senate representative for the new colony on D'Qar. He'd even fallen in love for a time, but that had ended by mutual agreement, not at the hands of a bounty hunter.

Poe has six months leave of absence as Kaydel Connix steps in for him, but he's seriously considering heading back to the Senate sooner. Maybe he will holo-comm her in the morning, see what she thinks. She's been a rock at his side for so long, he trusts her completely. If she thinks he should continue taking the break, then he'll take the break. He won't like it, but maybe he can do some traveling instead of sitting around the ranch doing the same thing day in, day out. Alone.

Mind made up, Poe finishes his chores for the day and is about to head into town to pick up BB-8 when there is a knock at the door. He frowns, because he's rarely had visitors to the ranch, and certainly none who weren't invited and expected. His instincts kick in, even in the midst of the peace and quiet distance of Yavin IV, and he tucks a small blaster into the back of his trousers as he goes to answer the door. It's like seeing a ghost when he does.

The man before him is much older, his skin gone leathery with age. His face is lined with soft wrinkles, his short hair and beard gone mostly gray. Yet his eyes - they are eyes Poe would know anywhere, deep and brown and warm. They are Finn's eyes.

They are also not the same eyes that Poe remembers from so long ago. There are more lines crinkling the corners, with light shadows beneath, and the wisdom of experience shines through these eyes more than anything.

Poe feels his heart break all over again looking into those eyes. He can't speak, his breath stuck in his chest, his eyes wide and staring.

"Hi, Poe," Finn says, and it's him, it's really him. Though his voice has aged with the rest of his body, it's still the same wry tone Poe remembers from all those years ago.

"Finn," he croaks, then clears his throat to better get the words out past his shock and disbelief. "What…what are you doing here? _How_ are you here? I don't understand…" Poe steps back as his legs start to tremble, looks for someplace to sit, to collapse. Finn reaches out for his arm, but Poe shakes it off, too shocked to let him help.

Finn is not upset, but smiles sadly. "Can I come in?" he asks. "Before you pass out in the doorway?"

Poe nods silently, standing back to let Finn in. The other man is wearing black pants and trousers with tall boots, and a long, hooded robe of deep brown. It reminds Poe of someone else from distant memory, a thought confirmed when he sees the lightsaber hanging from Finn's belt.

"You're a Jedi," he breathes. "You're alive and you're a Jedi. What the kriffing hell…" And this time his legs do give out, and he lets Finn support him to the nearest chair. Poe collapses, his elbows resting on his knees as he stares at the floor before looking up at the man before him. Finn is standing serenely in the front room of his home, alive and well and so much older than the last time he saw him, dying in the forest of an alien moon.

"Finn, what's going on?" he asks. "You've got to tell me something because I'm sort of freaking out here."

Finn smiles at him. "I figured you would. I know it must be a shock."

"A shock? Finn, you…you're alive! Except you're not!" Poe shakes his head, runs a hand through his hair. "You died, Finn. Fifteen years ago! I was there, I didn't imagine it. What happened?"

"Well," starts Finn. "I'm not a clone, if you're wondering about that."

"I wasn't," Poe admits. "It's more like I'm talking to a ghost."

"No, not a ghost either," Finn tells him patiently. "And honestly, I'm not sure how much I can tell you, only you told me and everything worked out, so…"

"Finn," Poe begs. "Don't play games with me. What the hell is going on?"

Finn sits down in a chair across from him. "I'm from the future."

Poe stares at the other man, waits for more. "That's it?" he exclaims when Finn remains stubbornly silent. "You're from the future? That's not even possible!"

'It is," Finn tells him. "Or it will be, some day. Rey figured it out and showed me how."

Poe sits up straight. "Rey? Finn, she disappeared six months ago! Is she alive? Is she okay? Are you okay?" He rubs his face, as if scrubbing his eyes will help him see the truth better. "Please, buddy, tell me everything, from the beginning."

"Okay, but you may not believe me. The thing is, if you don't believe me, the universe may implode."

Poe opens his mouth to make a smart retort, but Finn looks completely serious. "Okay, so no pressure, then. You better make me believe."

Finn nods and stands, starts pacing the small room. Poe thinks he's at least twenty, maybe twenty-five years older than him, and Poe is almost fifty. Finn looks good, still strong if leaner than Poe remembers him, and he has an energy about him that is balanced and calm. Poe wishes he felt the same.

Finn walks the length of the room once, then again, right hand playing with his left, which is when Poe notices that Finn is twisting a ring on his fourth finger. So he's married. For some reason, even though this isn't the man he knew—even though that man is dead and Poe never told Finn how he felt—for some reason, Poe feels the absurd sting of jealously. He'd once hoped to spend his life with Finn; someone else apparently has.

Finn stops and sees him looking at the ring. He smiles, takes it off, and hands it to Poe. Poe refuses it, as if it is burning hot and will hurt him, but Finn insists, and Poe takes it, holding it warily.

He recognizes it immediately and almost drops it.

"Finn," he whispers. "This is my mom's ring." He feels his eyes tear up; it's too much, that this strange, older version of Finn has shown up at his house, wearing Shara Bey's ring. How? He stopped wearing his mother's ring shortly after he came back to Yavin IV, not needing that sense of identity and closeness with memories of her and his father in every room. Now Poe stands, hurries to his bedroom, and finds the small pouch where he keeps his mother's ring. He returns slowly to the front room, where Finn is looking at several holos on a shelf.

"It's exactly like I remember," Finn murmurs, turning back to Poe. "Except for BB-8. Where is he?"

"I left him with Fitzsimmons last night to get an oil bath," says Poe, wishing his droid was there, could help him sort this out. "I was about to head back there."

"Of course," Finn murmurs. "I remember picking him up. So, did you find it? Your ring?

Poe holds up the ring Finn gave him, side-by-side with the one from his room. "How is this possible?" he asks. "Finn, how did you end up with my mom's ring? Forty years in the future?"

"Hey, it's only thirty years," Finn tells him. "I'm not that old. And you gave it to me."

"You're not even alive, not in my…my time!" Poe exclaims, though the idea of them living in separate times is a strange one. "Finn, you died years ago. There's no way you could be from the future, you've been gone for so long. And I've missed you ever since." He chokes out the last, and Finn hurries over, takes both rings, one on a chain, one clearly tarnished by wear, and sets them on a nearby table. He then takes Poe's hands—which are shaking wildly—and holds tight.

"Poe," he starts. "You saved me. I know you think you didn't, and that's because you haven't, not yet. But you will soon, and I'll recover, and I'll finally say something, and you'll finally say something back, and eventually…well, things work out."

"What?" Poe whispers, his head spinning. What do they say, what works out? "Finn, that's nonsense! You're talking as if the past hasn't happened yet." He pauses. "But it did, and we can't change it."

"Yes, we can," Finn soothes him, "because we already did." He guides Poe to a nearby sofa this time, where they sit next to one another, close like they always did back in the Resistance. And kriff, it feels good. Poe could melt into it.

"It's a past that hasn't happened for you yet because you haven't gone back to change it. But that's why I'm here: so you can go back to the past and save me. If you don't, none of this will happen. And I won't be alive to come back and see you now."

"What?" Poe literally feels like his eyes might burst from his head.

"Poe, in your past I died fifteen years ago. But I'm sitting here, right next to you, and I'm telling you, I didn't. You saved me! You found me on Mantero and kept me alive. I went back to the Resistance and we got married, and right now we're living a long and happy life together."

"But I didn't save you," Poe tells him, shaking his head. He can't even begin to process what Finn said about being married. "I failed. You died in my arms, Finn. I was there!"

"You're right, your past self didn't save me. But you," and he takes both of Poe's hands again, "you, sitting right here, _you_ did. You have to go back. And I'm here to show you how."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what to say when things start getting twisty-or timey-whimey, as the Doctor would put it. I just hope it made sense and was enjoyed. Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

_IV. Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless against truth. ~Thomas Huxley_

"You have to go back. And I'm here to show you how."

Poe thinks he understands, at least in principle. He's read enough holo-novels, vaguely remembers his theoretical astrophysics course from the academy, but that was hyperspace vectors and black holes, not time travel. His stomach clenches at the impossibility of it all.

"It's a paradox," he says. "All of it. What you're saying—if I don't go back to save you, you won't be here to send me back—it's a kriffing paradox." Now Poe stands up and starts pacing. "Finn, time travel is…it's not…it's never been proven, never been tried."

"And yet, I'm here, aren't I?" asks Finn. "And if you don't go back and save me, I won't be here." He pauses. "Or if you didn't already go back, I wouldn't be here. Which proves that you will. Or that you already did." He frowns at his own words.

"And there's the problem," Poe tells him, shaking his hands in the air with frustration. "You can't even figure out how to talk about it! It's not possible!"

"Poe, it's possible. It's how I'm here."

"Why you and why not Rey?" asks Poe. "You said she's the one who figured it out, why didn't she come back?"

"Because you said it was me. When you found me on Mantero, you said that I came from the future to send you back. So it had to be me because it already was." When Poe gives him a skeptical look, he shrugs. "Rey saw it too, that it was me who came back now, that it was you who saved me then." Finn holds up his hands. "I hardly understand it sometimes myself. You said she's missing now, right? She's not missing, she's looking for the World Between Worlds."

Poe frowns. "That sounds familiar. She's talked about that, it's an ancient Jedi…something or another."

"It's a plane within the Force itself that links all of time and space together. It's how I got here." Finn's eyes light up with excitement. "Rey spent years looking for it, for the ancient Jedi texts that would guide her to it. And this is one reason why—she felt a disturbance in the Force."

"What kind of disturbance?" Poe asks sharply. "Because I thought those things were—at least, historically speaking—caused by guys like Darth Vader and Kylo Ren."

"A disturbance in the Force isn't always about the Dark Side. This one has to do with time and space, with the stability of the universe."

"You mean our little paradox," Poe guesses. "The one where you're alive in the future but dead in the past." He grimaces as he says it, but Finn nods, clearly trying to comfort him.

"You sure you're not Force-sensitive?" Finn asks. "You're always so good at understanding and accepting the impossible."

"Good to know I don't lose it in the future." Poe tries to joke, but it's hard. The future. The past. A world between worlds. It still makes no sense. "So Rey went into this World Between Worlds to try and track down our little disturbance, and she saw—what, exactly?"

"She saw another past—my death. Only I don't remember that, obviously, because I'm alive. And she saw the past I _do_ remember, the one where you—the you standing right before me—saved me. So my past self can't die, because I'm alive and I remember you saving me."

"Finn, if I save you, you won't die, and there's no reason for me to go back and save you!" Poe is in way over his head when it comes to temporal physics. Most people are, because time travel can't possibly be real.

For the first time, Finn looks uncertain. "I know," he says. "Rey says it's some kind of….closed time loop, I think she called it. "

Poe stares at the floor, then abruptly turns for the kitchen. "I need a drink. Do you want a drink? I'm getting a drink." And he walks out, too confused to think about it anymore without a glass of Regellian scotch in his hand.

He opens the cabinet of liquor to find a bottle of Finn's favorite whisky, something he'd grown to like after one of their missions to Corellia. But Poe doesn't remember it being there, because he doesn't drink it, and he doesn't think his dad liked it either. He pulls out the bottle and wonders. Finn follows him into the kitchen, sees the bottle, and grins. He suddenly seems decades younger.

"My favorite," he exclaims. "That was a hell of a mission. I hope you're sharing."

"I don't even know where it came from," Poe admits. "So you're welcome to it." He pours them both a measure, and they stand in silence for a moment, trying to gather their thoughts. Poe glances around the kitchen, notices a few other things that weren't there before, including a holo of him and Finn he doesn't remember ever taking. They are standing close, with their arms around one another's shoulders, smiling for the recording.

A strange sensation creeps across his skin and settles in his gut. He feels like a fog is descending over the house and everything he knows to be real is growing fuzzy and uncertain. He sets down his drink, wondering if it was really that strong, but he knows that's not it. Something else is happening.

"You feel it too?" Finn asks quietly, and he looks like Poe feels: out of sync, as if he's drifting out of his body. Or out of time. Maybe they are.

"I feel something," Poe murmurs.

"Time is shifting," Finn tells him. "I can sense it, through the Force. It means we have to act. Now."

"And do what?" Poe grabs the drink and knocks it back. "You haven't explained how I'm supposed to go back in time fifteen years. How I'm going to get to Mantero. How I'm going to save you."

"I don't have all the answers," Finn admits. "But I can get you there. You should take what you need to save someone who's crashed, been tortured, and exposed to the elements."

"I remember," Poe whispers, and Finn nods with a compassionate look on his face before continuing.

"And you wear armor. I definitely remember that. You were in disguise, but it wasn't a very good one."

Poe throws his hands up in the air. "Finn! Where the hell am I going to get some kind of armor? You said we need to do this now!"

"You don't have any here?" Finn asks, and it is clear he has not thought this all the way through, or maybe he assumed Poe liked to dress up in his spare time. When Poe shakes his head, Finn swears under his breath. "Okay, anywhere in town they might have something?"

"It's Yavin IV, Finn," Poe tells him in his driest voice. "It doesn't draw the typical armored crowd."

"Okay. Okay." He takes a deep breath. "How about this? I not only remember you wearing it when you saved me, but I remember you wearing it when you came back to your time, because I was here. I'd just got back from picking up BB-8 from Fitzsimmons. You put it in your dad's closet, so maybe it's there now."

"It can't be there, because I haven't gone yet," Poe tells him.

"But you did, because I remember it," Finn replies. "So even if it hasn't happened to _you_ yet, it happened to _me_." Poe is completely skeptical. "The only way we'll know is if we look."

"No way. It's impossible," Poe says, shaking his head, but leading Finn toward the room his dad had slept in. He hasn't done anything to it, left it as it was, rarely entering since his dad passed away five months ago.

"You mean, like my favorite liquor in the cabinet? That holo in the kitchen? The tooka that just ran down the hall?"

"What?" Poe exclaims, turning around and looking for a tooka.

"Don't worry, it's only Loki," Finn tells him. "You found her—well, never mind. It should be a surprise."

"This is getting too weird for me," Poe murmurs. He opens the door to his father's room and immediately feels different. It's not the loss and sadness he's felt the other times he opened the door. It's the same sense of disconnectedness he'd felt earlier in the kitchen, of time shifting around them, and it's even stronger here. Finn's eyes are wide.

"The disturbance is strong here," he says. "Open the closet. See if it's there."

And sure enough, despite the impossibility of it, there is a set of armor in the closet. Angular and colored in black and grey, there are gloves and boots and a silver helmet. Finn pulls it out and grins.

"This is amazing," he says. "It's exactly what I remember."

"But where did it come from?" Poe asks.

"We put it there," Finn replies.

"Where did we get it?"

"The closet, right now." Finn shrugs at Poe's open mouth. "It's another paradox, I know. Go with it."

Poe takes the armor, and Finn insists that he put it on immediately. "I'll get together some supplies while you change. Can you still feel it? We have to do this soon."

Poe pulls on the armor, the boots, and the gloves, but waits on the helmet. It's similar to a Mandalorian helmet, though the eye slit is different. It all feels strange, foreign. Almost dishonest, like he's hiding something—which apparently, when he goes back in time, he is. He has so many questions, he's still not sure he believes what's happening. But when he finds Finn in the sunroom playing with a tooka he's never seen before, he knows one thing: he wants it, the life Finn remembers. The holo, the tooka, being together. He'll do anything to have it now.

"Ready?" he asks, and Finn jumps up, grinning in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I got sidetracked. Do you have a medical kit? I mean, I know we usually do, but do you have one right now?"

Poe thinks about it and nods. "My dad had some basic supplies, and I've got the medpac from my ship. We can improvise the rest." He starts listing off whatever he can think of to help the injuries he still vividly remembers, and Finn seems to know exactly where everything is. Poe runs out to his ship, then back to his own room to grab a large rucksack. He stands and looks around, wondering if he'll ever see it again.

Finn finds him there, places a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll make it back," he says, and he sounds absolutely sure.

"Some version of me may make it back," Poe tells him. "I'm not sure it will be me."

"It will still be you," Finn tells him with absolute certainty. "I think your memories must change as time shifts, but you still remembered a few things."

Poe takes a deep breath, packs and double checks his bag for everything he could possibly need, from blankets and bandages, to medicine and water and Finn's favorite foods, especially the sweet sand cookies he used to love. Poe remembers Finn's injuries from fifteen years ago, and he hopes it is enough. Finn is standing before him, alive, so it must be. Now, if only he could believe it will work.

"How are we doing this?" Poe asks as they walk back to the front room. Finn grabs his version of Poe's ring from the table where he set it next to the other and places it back on his finger with a warm smile, then takes Poe's hand, leading him outside and across the grounds to the tree Poe's mother had received from Luke Skywalker. It is tall with flowing branches, easily the largest tree around. Poe remembers it growing with him as a child, as he spent hours playing underneath its silky leaves and among its tall branches. It was always a place of peace for him, somewhere he could go to find inner calm. Yet now the strange sense of disequilibrium grows stronger as they come nearer. It's unnerving to feel such a thing in a place he has always loved. Even Finn slows down, as if something is holding him back.

"What's wrong?" Poe asks sharply, stopping him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Finn tells him, but his breathing is labored, and he's limping. He grabs his wrist, and Poe has a flash of insight: it's as if Finn's injuries from fifteen years earlier are somehow manifesting the closer they move toward the tree.

"It must be the tree," Poe tells him. "It's a Force tree, from Luke Skywalker. Maybe it's the center of the disturbance."

"No, _we_ are definitely the center of the disturbance," Finn tells him. "The tree is just a tree that happens to be strong in the Force."

"I think it's like things changing in the house," Poe tells him. "Only this time it's you—the injuries that killed you are coming back."

Finn glances at him in surprise. "What?" he asks, sucking in a sharp breath, rubbing at his thigh. Poe remembers the raw wound there when he'd found Finn so close to death. "How is that kriffing possible?"

"How is any of this possible, Finn?" Poe asks. "If we're going to do this, I think we need to do it now before time tears itself apart—and us with it."

Finn nods and stands up straight, leaning on Poe. An invisible wind whips around them as swirling eddies of time rush by—unseen, but Poe can sense them nevertheless. He hears voices from the past, is overwhelmed by memories as visions coalesce before him—memories of the life he's known, and of a life he's never lived but now wants more than anything. He closes his heart to the pain of his past, holding tight to Finn's hand and hoping for a better future.

"You better do what you're going to do, buddy!" he shouts into the whirlwind.

Finn leans toward him to be heard. "I'm taking us into the World Between Worlds. There will be a portal to the past for you. You may see other people, other places—it's different for everyone."

"Sounds great!" Poe tells him, dreading it. He doesn't want to see anyone, anything—he needs to concentrate and not be distracted, not even by his parents, or Leia. Finn is distracting enough.

"You can do it," Finn tells him. " _We_ can do it. We already did, right?" Finn grins at him, and Poe can't resist leaning forward and kissing him, quick and chaste. "What was that for?"

"Just in case it doesn't work," Poe shouts. "At least I finally got to kiss you!"

"I can't believe our first kiss was between old me and middle-aged you!" Finn shouts back. He takes something from his robes, presses it into Poe's hand: a ring, but not his mother's ring. It is thick and well-made from a dark silver metal. "Give this to me, I'll know what to do with it when the time comes." Poe feels a tug on his own finger as he places the ring in the pocket of his bag and hopes he remembers to pass it on.

It suddenly occurs to Poe that he doesn't know what will happen to his future once he changes the past—or how he will return to his own time. Before he can ask, Finn steps toward the tree and pulls them forward into the Force, time rippling and shifting as they leave the past behind to create a new future.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love a good bootstrap paradox. I hope that was a fun one. Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

_V. There's time enough, but none to spare. ~ Charles W. Chesnutt_

"It was you."

Finn waits for more, but Poe says nothing. Which is frustrating, because Finn is still confused.

"It was me," he finally says. "That's it? I'm sitting right here and I'm pretty sure I didn't jump forward in time to send you back."

Poe shakes his head, laughs quietly through his nose. "No, your future self jumped back to my time. Believe me, Finn, I'm still as confused as you are. But you—or, your future self—were right. You're going to be fine now, which means you live long enough to jump back and tell me to save you."

"Still sounds like a holo-drama," Finn mumbles under his breath. And then something occurs to him, because even if temporal physics wasn't part of First Order training, he's seen enough to know not to mess with time. Changing the past changes the future. Maybe that's the endgame for Finn, but what about Poe?

"What happens to you?" he asks. "You right here. Because if you've changed the past, then the future will different. How do you get back?"

"I don't know what happens to me," Poe admits. "But it's enough to know you're alive. The other me—my past self—should be here soon, and you'll be okay." He smiles to himself. "Both of you will be okay, together. So it's worth it, no matter what happens."

Finn notices the word _together_ , can see the look on Poe's face and guess what it means. Which makes what Poe told him earlier even more meaningful. The man before him lost someone he cared about and risked everything to save them—to save _Finn._ Poe deserves more than the uncertainty of whatever happens next.

"Thank you," Finn says quietly. "For coming back, for what you've sacrificed."

"I don't know if I've sacrificed anything," Poe tells him. "Because I think I've rewritten my own past as much as yours." He shakes his head. "Speaking of which, I'm supposed to give you this." He goes into his rucksack, swears as he fails to find what he's looking for. Then he glances up with a funny look on his face.

He takes off his left-hand glove, and Finn notices that Poe is wearing a ring on his fourth finger. He frowns, curious about it since Poe hadn't mentioned anything about being married, but Poe is grinning like a madman as he takes it off.

"You told me to give this to you," he says, and Finn takes the ring. "You said you'd know what to do with it when the time comes."

"But you were wearing it," Finn says. "Why are you giving me your ring?"

"I think it's the other way around," Poe says, clearly excited about something. "Don't wait too long. My dad used to say, _there's time enough, but none to spare_. I learned that the hard way. I wish I—"

He stops abruptly, cocking his head as if he hears something. He grabs his helmet and puts it back on, then starts gathering his things. Finn hears a voice calling his name from the woods. "I'm early," Poe says from beneath his helmet, and shifts away from Finn. And then things get even weirder.

Poe enters the clearing, but it is _his_ Poe, the man he left on Ajan Kloss a few days earlier. He is not dressed in imposing armor, but his orange flight suit, with a large pack on his back. He looks tired yet incredibly relieved when he steps into the clearing and sees Finn, sitting up and alive.

He also pulls out his blaster and levels it straight at the man in armor—his older self.

"Hands up where I can see them," the younger Poe growls, and Finn can hear the man in the armor sigh. He raises his hands and slowly turns around.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," he says. "I'm only here to help."

"Dressed like that?" Poe asks. "More like you're here for the bounty." He moves around his future self toward Finn. "You all right?" he asks quietly, glancing down at Finn, but keeping his blaster on the man in armor.

"I'm fine," Finn replies. "Thanks to him. He saved me." When Poe looks skeptical, he explains. "Look, he set my wrist, bandaged my leg, gave me water. I probably would have died if he hadn't found me."

Poe still looks uncertain. "You trust him?" he asks, and Finn nods.

"Like I trust you."

Poe—his Poe—looks at him in surprise, but lowers his blaster. "Then I guess thanks are in order, pal," he says. "I've got it from here."

Future Poe stands up and grabs his pack. "Good, because I don't think I'm going to be here much longer."

Finn tries to stand, lets his Poe help him with an arm around his waist. "Where will you go?" he asks. "Now that you've done what you needed to do?"

"Still not sure," the other man replies. "Maybe back where I belong. I'm hoping someone will be there waiting for me."

Finn's pretty sure Poe is referring to him, though he has no idea which future version of Finn the other man is talking 's too confusing, time travel. A part of him hopes he never has to deal with it again, but he also knows there is a point in his future waiting for him to do the same thing: to travel back in time. Which is when he knows exactly what to say: he controls his future now, doesn't he?

"He will be," Finn replies. "Trust me."

"I always have," the other man murmurs.

Next to him, Finn feels Poe's arm tighten around his waist, and when he glances sideways, he sees the frown on Poe's face. "Something going on here you're not telling me?" he asks, the light tone in his voice clearly forced. "Because I'd love to be in on the secret."

"In a way, you already are," the man in armor replies. "I don't know how, but I think…no, I _know_ this is going to work out exactly like it's meant to now."

"Thank you," Finn says, and he holds out his good hand. The other Poe—older and wiser and yet so similar—takes it and clasps it tight. "I wouldn't be here without you."

"And I wouldn't be here without you," the older Poe murmurs.

Once again, his Poe looks at him funny, before holding out his free hand as well. Finn finds himself holding his breath as the older man reaches out to take it. Two Poe Damerons—one from the present, one from the future—are shaking hands, and Finn _feels_ the shift around him, a tingling in the air and a humming in the Force.

He is struck by a sense of _rightness_ , of joy and love, as the man in armor begins to fade away. It's not like a matter transfer beam, but more like a holo slowly dissolving into nothing. Finn can feel the other man's excited anticipation as he disappears, because he's returning to a future in which Finn did not die, but where they both lived a long and happy life. Together.

Finn slips his hand into his pocket, feels the ring, and knows what it's for. He understands why this man came back to save him—not because it was the right thing to do, or because he had to do it in order to complete some crazy time loop. Poe came back to save him because he cared so much, and Finn suddenly understands what that means for their future. And he knows he'd do the same thing—that he _will_ do the same thing, he will go back and send Poe to the past, so that they can be together. Because it's meant to be.

"Wow," he breathes, staring at the empty space where the other man had been standing moments earlier. There is silence from beside him, then—

"What the hell just happened?" Poe demands. He waves his free hand at the empty space before them. "Who was he and where did he go? And what the hell did he do to you? And—" He stops, looks at Finn with utter confusion. "Why do I feel like I know him? Like something really big just happened?"

"I think something big did happen," Finn tells him. "Besides the fact that he saved my life."

Poe nods, though Finn can still sense his confusion. "Right. And I will be forever grateful for that, even if he was a bit sketchy," he says.

Finn bursts out laughing. "What?" asks Poe. "He was. But whoever he is, I'm glad he found you first. I thought I'd lost you, and I don't know what I'd do without you." Finn feels his heart jump in his chest, but before he can say anything, Poe keeps talking. "We got a signal from your ship. Forten…Forten didn't make it. Jannah's okay, though she doesn't remember sending the signal. I got here as fast as I could, and BB-8 is waiting with her. Jess should be here by now, she was following with one of the transports. Do you think you can walk? It's not too far, but I can get help if you need it."

Finn feels that same tingling in the Force that he felt earlier. He thinks he knows what it is, though he's not sure how to act on it. He nods and starts forward, forcing Poe to follow. "Yes, I can walk, just slower than usual."

"Oh good, then we can talk," Poe says, supporting him as they leave the clearing, heading back in the direction Finn had come from. Finn pretends to groan, which makes Poe grin. "Because I want to know what happened, what's really going on here."

"There's nothing going on here," Finn tells him. "It's over. We got shot down by a bounty hunter, but we managed to bring him down as well. Unfortunately, I was pretty banged up in the crash, and he got to me. I'm still surprised he left Jannah and Forten."

"He must have thought they were both dead," Poe surmises.

"Maybe," Finn agrees. "Thank goodness. He dragged me to some cave, roughed me up—"

"What!" Poe exclaims, stopping so abruptly that Finn almost trips. "Hang on, what did he do? Are you sure you're all right? I can get something to help you back—"

"Seriously?" Finn asks. "You have a hover-chair in your X-wing?"

"Well, no," Poe admits. "But I could rig up something. BB-8 could pull you, he's probably frantic by now."

"He's with Jannah. And you haven't commed him?"

"Oops?" says Poe, then lets BB-8 know they are on the way back. Finn can hear the droid's agitated beeps and whistles, and Poe looks properly chastised when he signs off. He hooks his arm around Finn again and they start moving.

"Okay, so back to the cave—what happened?"

Finn sighs, knowing Poe is probably going to overreact, so he keeps it simple. "Well, by the time I killed him and got away—" that gets him a surprised look and then a smile of approval—"I had a sprained ankle, broken wrist, most likely a concussion and some busted ribs, and he stabbed me in the thigh." Before Poe can say anything, because Finn can feel him winding up to it, Finn continues. "Which you—I mean, that man who found me—fixed. He set my wrist, put bacta on my leg, brought food and water and medicine—so it's all good. I'm okay."

Poe is silent as they walk, the noises of the woods around them the soundtrack to their journey. Finn is growing more tired as they continue, but knows as soon as they reach the ship, he can rest and recover and try to process what's happened. He just has to get there, and he will. Thanks to Poe—both of him.

"So you going to tell me about your mysterious rescuer?" Poe asks. "Because I know there's more to it than you're saying."

"Maybe," Finn replies. "It's complicated. To be honest, I'm not sure I understand it all myself."

"Why a guy dressed as a bounty hunter found you in the forest, saved you, and literally disappeared as soon as I arrived?" Poe asks dryly. "That's what I keep wondering."

"Well, he had his reasons," Finn murmurs. He smiles to himself as he thinks about those reasons. They leave the cover of the trees, and Finn can see Poe's X-wing not far from them. "How'd you know where to start looking for me?"

Poe grins. "Well, as much as I would like to say it was the Force, BB-8 tracked you to the trees. I figured there was no way I was getting my ship in there, so I landed and followed your trail as best as I could on foot." He shakes his head. "I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found you," he murmurs.

Finn stops and stands up straighter, letting Poe's arm drop from around his waist and taking the other man's hand instead. "You did," he says, thinking of the man from the future who had saved him. Still the same man, only a slightly different version of him, who was now—hopefully—living a completely different future.

Poe looks down at their joined hands. "Always with the hands," he teases, but his voice is more serious than usual. Finn raises his eyes to Poe's face, sees something there he finally recognizes and understands, and leans forward, pressing his lips against Poe's. He feels something slot into place around them, and the world shifts from strange and unsettled to clear and content. Poe looks surprised when Finn pulls away.

"Uh, what was that for?"

"I'm not sure," Finn admits. "But I think it's something we should talk about." And he knows it's something he wants.

Poe narrows his eyes, cocks his head, and a slow smile begins on his lips. "Well, there's nothing to talk about as far as I'm concerned."

"Really?" Finn frowns. "Because I thought we had a moment there, and I know—"

Poe kisses him this time, a much longer kiss, with so much feeling that Finn is almost overwhelmed. He closes his eyes and sighs into it, and Poe smiles, and yes. This is how it's meant to be. This is his future.

"There's nothing to talk about," Poe murmurs. "Because I'm in. I've always been in."

"Oh," Finn murmurs back, slightly dazed at the unexpected turn his day has taken. "Me too." He woke up with one Poe tending his wounds, and is leaving with another, suddenly closer than they were before any of this started.

"So it only took a near death experience and a good-looking bounty hunter to bring it out?" Poe teases.

"How do you know he was good-looking?" Finn asks. "For all you know, he could have been ugly under that helmet."

"Was he?" Poe asks. Finn touches his fingers to Poe's face, thinking of the man he will become. Poe ages exceptionally well in the future.

"I don't think you have an ugly bone in your body."

"That's the second time you've slipped," Poe tells him. "I saw him, you know. From behind, before he put his helmet on."

"And what did you see?" Finn asks, wondering how much Poe suspects.

"He kind of reminded me of my dad," Poe admits. "I know that's not possible, but I also know you're not telling me everything."

"How about I tell you when we get back?" Finn replies. The transport has landed nearby, and he's not about to try explaining time travel and future visitations to anyone else but Poe. "Because hopefully by then I'll have figured it out."

"I'm holding you to that," Poe says. "Because I have a funny feeling about this."

Finn kisses him again as BB-8 comes zooming toward them, squealing to a stop and whistling worriedly. Poe laughs as he crouches down besides the droid "Yeah, he's all right. I'm not trying to resuscitate him." Finn bursts out laughing, and Poe pats BB-8 before standing. "Come on, let's get him to the ship and patched up a little more."

Jessika comes out and starts asking questions, and together her and Poe help Finn into the ship. He stops to see Jannah, who is in the medical bunk, and squeezes her hand as he assures her he is all right. Continuing to an empty bed in the back of the ship, Finn lays down with a satisfied sigh. He's safe, and he's with Poe.

BB-8 stays by his side as Poe and Jessika talk quietly not far away. Then Jessika comes over and pats his shoulder. "I'll see you back on Ajan Kloss," she says, then grins. "Behave yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asks as she walks away, laughing.

"It means she's taking my X-wing back, and I'm taking you," Poe tells him. "And she might have seen us when she landed."

Finn sighs. "Which means we'll never hear the end of it."

"The whole base will probably know before we even make it back," Poe agrees cheerfully. BB-8 is watching them curiously, wonders what they're talking about. "I'll tell you when you're older," Poe stages whispers to his droid.

"It's fine," Finn tells him. Poe starts helping him settle, brings him a blanket and some water, checks his vitals and fusses over his injuries. "I don't mind if it gets around, as long as you don't."

"I'm pretty sure there will be some money changing hands," Poe tells him with a snort. "Maybe we can talk the winner into buying us dinner or something."

"Not if it's Jessika," Finn tells him, and they both laugh.

Poe settles on the edge of the bunk, takes his hand and holds tight. "I don't mind either," he says quietly. "Because it's something I've been thinking about for a long time. Thank you."

"For what?" asks Finn. "Shouldn't I be thanking _you_? For saving me?"

Poe studies him very seriously. "I think you already did. Back in the forest."

Finn can sense the implication, and is both surprised at Poe's insight, and yet…not surprised at all. Poe is more clever than a lot of people give him credit for, and he did shake his own hand—well, the hand of his future self. Finn wonders what that felt like. He nods, but doesn't say anything.

Poe leans down to kiss him, and Finn lets his eyes fall closed as he enjoys the feel of the other man's lips against his, their tongues slowly exploring, Poe's hand trailing across Finn's jaw. He is so comfortable, so happy, and so tired, that he can feel himself drifting to sleep. Which is when Poe sits up with a gentle laugh.

"Get some rest, Finn," he says. "I'm going up front to take us home."

Finn nods, the world already fading. He feels Poe press a kiss to his forehead.

"And when we're back, you promised you'd explain."

"Sounds like you already figured it out," Finn murmurs, cracking one eye open. Poe has a surprised look on his face.

"Didn't think I was right," Poe admits. "Didn't think that sort of thing was possible."

"Neither did I," Finn tells him. "But the Force works in mysterious ways—and apparently so do we."

Poe laughs quietly at that. "So do we." He leans over for another kiss. " _There's time enough, but none to spare._ I never really understood what my dad meant by that. Maybe this was it."

Once again, Poe demonstrates his remarkable understanding. Finn feels a burst of love for Poe that resonates in the Force around them. Poe's eyes go wide for a moment, as if he felt something too. After one last kiss, he stands up and heads to the cockpit. Finn closes his eyes and smiles to himself, knowing that the man from the future who saved him now has a new life to live.

And so does Finn.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter, and I'm excited to finish! Thanks for reading. I really appreciate the comments.


	6. Chapter 6

_VI. The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different. ~Peter Drucker_

Poe paces restlessly along the balcony. The calmness of the lake before him is a marked contrast to his nerves. Even the beautiful colors of the setting sun do nothing for him, when he has spent hours relaxing out here with Finn, watching the stars late into the night. He is too anxious and agitated—especially for his age.

"Poe, sit down." Rey glances up from where she is sitting cross-legged on a small mat, radiating the peace that Poe wishes he felt. "You know everything will be okay. You remember it turning out exactly how it was supposed to, right? You saved Finn and changed both your lives."

"Yes, I do remember," he grumbles. "I'm not that old."

"Actually, you are," she laughs. "We all are."

"Age is a state of mind," Poe tell her. "And I, for one, am young at heart."

"I don't remember you worrying so much when I first met you," she says. "You were much more carefree back then."

"I'm still carefree!" he protests.

"No, you have much more to care about now." He can't argue with that, and grants her the verbal victory. "Poe, he's fine. I'd sense if something was wrong with the timestream."

"Would you tell me?" he asks.

"Of course I would," she says. She stands and moves to where he is leaning against the railing, close enough that their arms touch. "He's all right."

"Rey," he sighs, and can't help but run a hand through his mostly-grey hair, a habit he's never broken, even after so many years of living on the lake in peace. The ranch on Yavin IV is still home, but the lake house on Naboo is their home away from home, and Poe has come to love it as much as any other place he's lived across the galaxy. He starts again, trying to stay focused on the present, not the past.

"I know—in that weird way that has to do with this crazy time loop—that he's okay. That he went back to Yavin IV, that he sends me to Mantero, that he brings me back to a new life. Because that's all in the past. It already happened, so we knew it would. It's the future that I'm worried about."

He looks down at his left hand, where the wedding ring he's worn for so long is now gone, sent back to the past so that Finn could give it to Poe, who passed it to Finn on Mantero. He smiles as he remembers the day it officially came back to him, the day they'd decided to get married. He wishes he had the ring now, as a physical reminder of their relationship while Finn is traveling in time. "What if he doesn't make it back here, to now?" he whispers. "What if he's lost in the World between Worlds?"

He looks sideways at Rey, who is frowning beside him. She's aged well, away from the harsh sands of Jakku. Her hair is grey, like all of them, and there are lines on her face that weren't there ten years ago, but her eyes are still bright. There is a sense of serenity that he's frankly envious of; while enough has rubbed off on him to get him through the decades, he still feels some anxieties too keenly. Like he told her, it's not the past he's worried about now, it's the future. He's not ready to lose Finn, not yet, and hopefully not ever.

"Then we'll go get him," she tells him, looping her arm through his elbow and squeezing. "You've been to the World between Worlds before. If anything happens, I'll know, and we'll go get him together."

He pats her arm with his other hand, leans over and places a kiss against her hair. "Don't know what we'd do without you, Jedi princess."

He knows she's rolling her eyes, because she hates that nickname, which is why he loves using it. She could take him down with one hand behind her back; she hates dressing up for formal functions; and over the years she's gained quite the colorful vocabulary. She's a Jedi Knight, but she reminds him so much of Leia sometimes that the nickname stuck hard the first time it slipped out, over forty years ago. That, and her angry, stuttering reaction—especially when Finn laughed and adopted the nickname as well—is why he has teased her with it for so long.

Poe has no ability with the Force, though he has certainly had his share of experiences with it over the years. From the tree his mother planted, to his torture at the hands of Kylo Ren, to his trip through the World between Worlds; Poe recognizes the Force at work, even if he cannot manipulate it himself. He can feel it working through Rey, and especially Finn. His time in the World between Worlds with Finn had been one of the most humbling and transforming experiences of his life. He'd gone in as a skeptic, only half believing Finn's story about time travel and changing the past to save the future, and he'd come out a completely different man.

The memories of his life before he'd gone back to Mantero had quickly faded, replaced by the new life he'd lived with Finn, and occasionally appearing as visions in dreams and nightmares. He only knew it had been real—that he had actually lost Finn—because Finn remembered meeting the other version of Poe. Just like Poe remembered that it was a much older Finn who had come to him, on Yavin IV, to set him on their new path. The Force works in mysterious ways, and even though Poe isn't a Jedi, it has been an incredible influence on his long life.

"I think you'd be fine," Rey says, responding belatedly to Poe's last statement. "It's your time loop, not mine."

"You sensed it," Poe points out. "It's because of you that we were able to do what we did. That Finn is alive." He hates thinking about it, even years later. She shakes her head.

"No, that was you. You went back and saved him." She glances sideways at him, looking thoughtful. "And I think that the Force would have found a way, if it wasn't through me. Because you were meant to be together." There is another squeeze on his arm. "Which is why he'll be back, because—"

She stops, grins, and lets go of his arm. Poe can't help but tense, as he feels a tingle in the air around him. It reminds him of the day Finn traveled back to find him on Yavin IV, to send him even further back in time to Mantero. It's like an electric charge that both prickles and soothes, tickling his skin and skirting the edges of his awareness.

Finn materializes before them, like a holo-comm gradually coming into more focus. Rey reaches out and steadies him as he leans forward, breathing heavily. Soon enough he stands straight and nods at Rey, his eyes finding Poe's. A smile flits across his face, full of the same relief that Poe feels.

"Welcome back," Poe tells him, before he finds himself pulled into a strong embrace.

"You did it," Finn murmurs into his ear, kissing him thoroughly before he pulls back. "You did it!"

"I thought we already knew that," Poe drawls. "Given the way things turned out."

"I know, I know," Finn laughs. "But come on—you never had any doubts?"

"Finn, I've been nothing but confused for the last several decades," Poe tells him. "And I didn't do it, you did."

"You both did," Rey tells them, standing nearby and watching with a fond look on her face. Finn gives her a quick hug, and she smiles at him. "Which means—"

"—we're officially out of the loop," Poe finishes for her. He may not understand everything, but he understands enough. Now that Finn has gone back, their future is clear, unknown. Or, at least, it's not tied to the time loop anymore, and they have nothing to worry about except spending it together without worrying about inadvertently changing the past. It feels remarkably freeing, knowing that everything is well and truly the way it's meant to be.

"No more time travel," Finn murmurs.

"Well, maybe for you," Rey tells him. "You've got your happy ending."

"And what are you planning?" Finn asks, sounding suspicious.

She smiles as she turns to head back inside. "Nothing, but the future is unpredictable now," she replies. "Could be exciting."

She leaves them alone on the deck, together under the stars. "Sorry, I'm too old for exciting," Poe tells his husband.

"Liar," Finn laughs. "I know you're itching to do something now that we've broken out of the loop. Out with it."

Poe pats the railing next to him and they stand shoulder to shoulder, gazing out at the lake. "We've been here for a few years, I wouldn't mind doing some traveling," he admits.

"Knowing you, you've probably booked it already," Finn mutters, but there is fondness in his voice. Poe shakes his head.

"As a matter of fact, I haven't. I wanted to run it by you first."

"That's a first!"

"It is not," Poe protests. "I always value your input." He can't help but snigger. "In more ways than one."

"You are definitely too old for those kinds of jokes," Finn tells him, and Poe agrees. He gazes down at his left hand, still empty even though Finn has returned. For some reason, Poe had thought the ring might come back to him when they broke out of the loop, and he misses that connection to Finn and their past together. Which makes his idea perfect. After a moment, he continues.

"What if we—"

They are interrupted by a crackle in the air around them, prickling against his skin the same as it did moments earlier when Finn returned. Only this time, a young woman materializes and falls to her knees, gasping for air. Poe stares at her, feels that same sensation he felt so many years ago when Finn came back to visit him: time is shifting around them once again.

Finn steps forward to help the woman, barely older than a girl. She looks familiar, dark hair braided into two knots at the nape of her neck, brown eyes flashing with apprehension. She is dressed in an orange flight suit like Poe used to wear and hasn't seen for years, but there is also a lightsaber clipped to her belt.

"Thanks, dad," the girl says as she takes Finn's hand and stands up straight. She grins as she throws her arms around him. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

Finn looks gobsmacked, and Poe shakes his head at the unwritten question on the other man's face. Before either of them can say anything, the girl turns to Poe and embraces him, nuzzling against his shoulder with a happy sigh. "And you too, dad," she murmurs, adding a few words in a language Poe hasn't heard since he was a child.

"What did you say?" he asks in shock, pulling back. It is something his mother used to say to him, something no one else could possibly know.

The girl rolls her eyes. "Exactly what you taught me," she says. "And I know you're wondering what that means, since you don't even know me, but trust me—you did and you do."

"Oh hell no," Finn says, shaking his head. "I am _not_ getting involved in time travel again. I just got back. I closed the loop."

But Poe understands.

"You're our daughter," he breathes, touching her face. She smiles against his palm, and he is filled with proud amazement. This person before him is beautiful and amazing—and she called him dad. She called Finn _dad_.

Of course they're going to time travel again. He would already do anything for her.

Finn comes up beside him and takes his hand. Poe sees the same awe in Finn's face now and squeezes his husband's hand as the future suddenly changes right before them.

"Guess I'm not too old for excitement after all," Poe murmurs.

"I hope not," the girl says. "I need your help, or my life as I know it won't ever happen." She looks at Poe with tears in her eyes. "And I don't want to lose you again." She takes a chain from around her neck and hands it to Poe. It is his wedding ring, the same dark metal band Finn had given him on Yavin IV to pass on, and again as his own when they'd married. Poe feels an incredible wonder, and something he is sure is love, resonating in the Force around them.

"Tell us what to do," Finn says, reaching out for her hand. Her whole body relaxes, and she throws herself at them both, embracing them tight. Poe can feel it: they are _family._

"I knew it would work," she whispers. "And I knew you would help. Thank you."

Whatever Poe had been thinking before is set aside. He and Finn have a new purpose now: to save their family, before time changes everything.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SQUEE! It's done! I'm so excited about the end, was it a surprise? I have to admit I have no plans to write a sequel, though - sorry! It was just too good an opportunity to pass up – they have a daughter! - and then I realized this could be how Poe got his ring back. As I've said before – I'm not an expert in time travel, but I tried very hard. I hope you enjoyed reading it – maybe let a writer know? Chaptered fics are hard to keep on with, and comments motivate us to keep writing. Thank you for reading!


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